RCAC Symposium 2013 An inquiry approach to elementary classrooms using Computer Science Brian Aspinall @mraspinall Grade 8 LKDSB "Flipping Out"

RCAC Symposium 2013An inquiry approach to elementary classrooms using Computer Science

Brian Aspinall@mraspinall

Grade 8 LKDSB

"Flipping Out"

www.brianaspinall.com

Exploring Buzzwords in Education

http://www.brianaspinall.com/

Traditional Classrooms

❖ Used to go to school because that's where the knowledge was

brianaspinall.com @mraspinall

http://brianaspinall.com/

Classrooms Today

❖ Knowledge and information is available from experts 24 hours a day

❖ Students know more than teachers about 21st century tools and trends

❖ A connected world



Teaching Today

❖ It's not about the apps

❖ It's not about the technology

❖ It's about the process









In a nutshell

❖ Through a class website or other medium, teachers share resources to students outside of the classroom

❖ Students watch, listen and interact outside of school

❖ By definition, students complete "homework" in class



Why?

❖ Student engagement improves student learning

❖ In most cases rote and repetitive math is like Michael Myers - we want it to die but it won't go away

❖ ** (Some math concepts require rote learning eg: BEDMAS)



Genius Hour

❖ Another buzzword in education

❖ Refers to a process in which students guide the learning through inquiry based tasks

❖ Teachers incorporate it into the curriculum where applicable

❖ Students publish to real world audiences (blogs, YouTube etc.)



Kids today will work in jobs that do not yet exist, solving problems we don't yet know are problems with tools that haven't been invented

today.



"Never memorize anything you can look up in a book"



Why do we still ask these questions over and over?



Why do we still ask these questions over and over?



With the right scaffolding, even Siri can answer multi-step problems

We need to teach kids to view larger problems as

A sum of smaller ones



2DMeasurement

❖ In the past:

❖ Find the (circumference / area) of a (circle / triangle) with the (radius, base, height) of 10 units

❖ Closed book, memorized formula

❖ Kids answered dozens of questions on a test



❖Instead......

I only ask rich questionsOpen bookUse google

Use siriEtc.





Results?

❖ I've had a repeat of students for two years

❖ Engagement has increased

❖ CAT scores have increased

❖ Behaviours almost non existent



Almost every grade 8 student could answer this end of the grade 9 year question in early October.



What's more important?

Remembering the formula for the

volume of a cylinderat the end of the semester

Or

Knowing how to identify this problem

using appropriate resourcesto find the formula

and derive a reasonable solution



Learning by the Process



Demonstrating Through Creativity




Character Development

❖ This process provides students the opportunity to demonstrate their learning skills

❖ Initiative, collaboration, self regulation, organization,

❖ Independent work, responsibility

❖ Work gets published to a real world audience, not an honour wall or some file folder or binder

❖ Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles can follow


Steve Jobs

❖ "Every kid should code because it teaches them how to think"

❖ "Coding is as important as literacy and numeracy"

❖ Coders are the new rock stars - Will I Am


Coding in K-6Cargo-bot for

iOS


Codea on iOS

Grades 7-12

Release of Responsibility

❖ Remember, your students must know the math concepts before they can begin in class tasks

❖ Teachers do not need to know how to code

❖ Instead they facilitate the process and encourage the problem solving process


Tynker for K-8


www.tynker.com

Code Academy for 7-12


www.starterleague.com

Scratch for 4-8


http://scratch.mit.edu

How to "Flip"


www.clipkwik.com

www.scrawlar.com


Teaching Today

❖ It's not about the apps

❖ It's not about the technology

❖ It's about the process


Documents

RCAC Symposium 2013 An inquiry approach to elementary classrooms using Computer Science Brian Aspinall @mraspinall Grade 8 LKDSB "Flipping Out"